Maternal Oxidative Balance Score during Pregnancy and Congenital Heart Defects

The relationship between maternal oxidative balance score (OBS) in pregnancy, representing overall oxidative balance status by integrating dietary and lifestyle factors, and congenital heart defects (CHD) remains unclear; therefore, this study attempted to explore their associations among the Chinese population. We conducted a case-control study including 474 cases and 948 controls in Northwest China. Pregnant women were interviewed to report diets and lifestyles in pregnancy by structured questionnaires. Logistic regression models were used to estimate the adjusted ORs (95%CIs). Maternal OBS ranged from 6 to 34 among cases, and 5 to 37 among controls. Comparing the highest with the lowest tertile group, the adjusted OR for CHD was 0.31 (0.19-0.50). The CHD risk was reduced by 7% (OR = 0.93, 95%CI = 0.90-0.95) in association with per 1 higher score of OBS during pregnancy. The inverse relationship between maternal OBS and CHD risk appeared to be more pronounced among participants in urban areas (OR = 0.89, 95%CI = 0.86-0.93). Maternal OBS during pregnancy showed good predictive values for fetal CHD, with the areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve 0.78 (0.76-0.81). These findings highlighted the importance of reducing oxidative stress through antioxidant-rich diets and healthy lifestyles among pregnant women to prevent fetal CHD.